But mayoral races are rarely as hard-fought as they are in New
Jersey. In a state where political machines are still the norm,
Marshall Curry's Oscar-nominated documentary "Street Fight" gets
closer than I've ever seen to the rough-and-tumble world of local
electioneering.
Here's the scoop: Cory Booker, a one-term city councilman in
Newark, has decided to take on Sharpe James, the longtime
incumbent. Both are black Democrats, but the similarities end
there: James has been entrenched in Jersey politics for more than
three decades, while Booker is a younger, idealist type who played
football at Stanford and doesn't eat meat.
But even in a city where the mayor is a towering entity for a
generation of residents (think Daley in Chicago, Bradley in Los
Angeles, or Feinstein in San Francisco), James spares no expense
in slinging mud or spinning lies. Booker posters are mysteriously
torn down, supporters are threatened, endorsements are fabricated,
a Watergate-like break-in occurs. James calls his light-skinned
opponent a "white, Republican Jew" -- probably the worst
combination of insults one could hear in urban Newark.
And filmmaker Curry is right in the fray. On more than one
occasion, mayoral staffers accost and bully him on public streets,
including one particularly volatile incident a rally hosted by
now-disgraced Governor Jim "I am a gay American" McGreevey.
It should surprise no one that politics is a bloodsport, but it may
surprise you how easy it is to get away with outright fabrications and
slurs. (Or, depending on your political persuasion, it may not.) It
would ruin the film to reveal how it ends, but a re-match looks set
for November.
Be sure to catch "Street Fight" wherever you can, as it's a revealing
look at the true scope of documentary film and that favorite of
American pastimes.
